Australian residents trapped in Wuhan are considering rejecting the federal governments offer to evacuate them to Christmas Island. 'Fourteen days is a long time,” one man said. 'It’s a drastic measure'.
On Wednesday evening, British Airways announced it was suspending all flights to and from mainland China. In response, Qantas said they were monitoring the situation but for now, services would remain as scheduled.
Diners who ate at The House of Delight restaurant in Glen Waverley on Sunday night, where the man dined, will be contacted, but the restaurant has been declared safe to visit by health authorities.Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the city of Wuhan on Monday to meet with health officials and examine the response to the outbreak of a coronavirus that has killed 80 people.
"I stress there is rather a limited window here and we are moving very, very swiftly to ensure we can put this plan together and put the operation together," Mr Morrison said. "This will be done on a last in, first out basis."There are now more than 6000 cases worldwide of the flu-like disease. Up to 5970 of those have been in China, with 132 deaths. A dozen cities in Hubei province are now in lockdown, isolating 35 million people.
Mr Morrison said he could not guarantee the operation would succeed or that Qantas would be able to make multiple trips. "It's going to be very hard for them to return to normal life. I doubt many people will get on the flight but it depends on how desperate they are," said the head of the Hubei Association of South Australia.
Christmas Island resident Philip Tubb feared the detention centre did not have the facilities to cope with hundreds of people being quarantined.
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